Seeds Of A New Urban Ecology

This is the genesis of the "Protocaust" research: a hetero-Urbanism. It's a project that will, no doubt, involve Architecture, social theory, photography and writing. I hope to make installments in the near future.

This:That

What are the romances of Humanity? What drives us to become the Beings that we are? We evolved on this great but fragile planet--Man. Woman. And the verisimilitudes that exist in-between--strive, and striving further still, to reach the heights of myth and legend; to surpass the natural boundaries of the Body itself; to become Mind.

Maybe the social systems we initiated to dictate ourselves is the "flaw" of the human condition. Maybe to understand the system is to understand the concept and praxis of Power and Predestination. In other words: authority over the masses and control over its destiny. If this is the case, then the system is a network of control to predict and modulate human behavior. Dreams, Hope, Romance, Song and Love would be anarchy to the social system's inhuman determination to modulate the human will [Once the system learns to be irrational, i.e., human, it is the End for Humanity].

Everyday I see people waiting at bus stops, hurrying to their next appointment, huddled in corners, standing in lengthy lines for food and temporary shelter, slaving away in lousy retail establishments or counting beans in air-conditioned bee hives.

How did Humanity get this way?

OBSERVATIONS ON ARCHITECTURE pt.1

It is time that Architecture realizes its position.
(1) The want of space. The need/lust for expansion is not, holistically, the venue of architecture. 'Space' is an inherent psychological state (desires, creative expressions, ego, ideology, etc.) of human nature. Space in its practical form is engineered by the virtues and vices of territorrialization: politics, economics, consumerism, commercialization, militarism, etc,.

(2) Architecture is a small but necessary part of human culture and how said culture acquires its "physicality"---Cities---which goes through a constant state of culmination, expansion and regression through the function, malfunction and mutation of human use. Cities don't function because of logic, planning and design, at least not solely on those terms, but by the imagination and circumvention of the various systems perpetrated by its pedestrians due to complexities of inclusion and exclusion and secrets; opportunities exterior to the planning process.

(3) Buildings, as a physical entity of architecture, can't solve those conditions of the 'Human State' in and of itself (I personally consider this a grave educational flaw in the study of architecture). A collaboration between the disciplines and social consensus must be met beforehand. In other words, human culture must be ready for the next step to its environmental shifts...

(4) Housing has yet to resolve homelessness.. Communities has yet to surpass Class. Urban planning has yet to resolve the conflict between ethics and politics/ economics and the human will. World views are Utopian views. Architectural design, no matter how abstract, practical or ideological. is predicated on a world view and can never account for the unpredictability of human nature. Purposes lose their meaning as different states of of culture evolves and shifts through various consequences of growth; places become abandoned or disappear from urban memory or mutates into a different function.

When confronted with a changing and challenging human world, architects need to have a grasp of multidisciplinary activities, though this position doesn't default to a plausible "End" but an understanding of the various ways humans make use of places and space.

To me, the idea of 'Public Space' does not exist in physical terms (program-form) but as an "experience". Most of what we consider public space is in reality "transitory Space" which allows for "cells" to gather, mobilize and dissipate. Corners become way-stations as well as opportunities beyond its geometries. Does the above image represent 'public space'?

As I move through the City I always ask myself: "What criteria can architecture offer towards the argument of the human condition? What are its strengths and how can we address its weaknesses? Is functionality and determinism an ethic of design or a state of enforcement?

Mulling Under Freeways

It was second year Architecture studio at Sci-Arc. 1b, Lindquist/Magar studio was a psychological roller coaster and I was eager to wrap my talents around a tangible design project. When we were settled in, in walks this tall, statuesque man with a coolness I haven't seen since the 70's (when the age of cool was fading from social memory), stalks in our company and introduced himself: Norman Millar. Studio days with him was inspiring, grueling, frustrating riddled with sleepless nights. He gave us an urban project based in a corner shopping plaza on Sunset Blvd. I remember being so happy with what I designed. We had to choose via the Iching from eight different building types to set our designs on, study them for form , logic of space and program, structure and function. Mines was based off an Morphosis project for a Japanese apartment building(if I remember correctly) they had based on a narrow lot size. The project was a Hostel/Community Service building. Teachers would stay in the hostel suites above and classroom/studios and a faculty room with offices on the lower floors with an outdoor public space/auditorium. At the time it was a lot to swallow (but as a working architect this doesn't even scratch the surface of what we have to do to get our buildings built!). Again, I was very happy with my design and a little naive. When my turn came for a desk crit, he stood back and gave a coy grin and asked me, "These spaces, will it be like standing under a freeway?" For some reason my head felt like it just exploded. He explained his reasons but he didn't have to go very far with them. Spaces to him were human, all spaces had a human value and relationship with the body and its imagination. Over exaggerated spaces become cold, impersonal and without the intimacy needed for humans to defines themselves. Scale is a very important character in architecture and we should always design what is needed first then bring in aesthetics.

Now that I'm designing project myself, I, at times, am reminded by those words. I live near the 405 freeway and sometimes I walk to Fox Hills Mall just to feel the day on my skin. At times I stand under the overpass and realized the impact of what he saw in my project and appreciate the time he took to share his criticism.

Murder In Black And White

I had a nightmare a few nights back which kept me up all morning. Two men were fighting, I don't remember if they were naked or not, but I do recall they were sweating and struggling with all their might. The older one had a pencil or a knife, I couldn't tell. The younger just had his bare hands and they were busy fending off the deadly instrument.

A girl with quiet, seductive eyes sat next to me whispering about the many ways she would rape and torture the victor in profane detail, laughing when the younger man finally weakened and the instrument went into his groin. His scream was so unbearably real that I heard it when I woke from the nightmare. I heard that scream two other times in my life. One was when I witnessed someone shooting a man at point blank range.

The scream kept reverberating though the city and it seemed every pedestrian carried the scream till it ripped their faces apart. I've never seen that much red in my life...

Just Thinking...

Why does Life seem like and endless episode of corners, bus stops and visceral intersections of familiar faces always out of time? It feels that way to me almost everyday. I have a crush on this girl, her name is Simran, and I know it doesn't make any sense, but I do. Today I ran into her on a busy crosswalk (during my common days of racing to work), actually she recognised me and called my name. Suddenly all my urgencies were aborted and the single most important thing on my mind was to go and meet her... But we just waved at each other instead till our buses came. Walking the world by yourself isn't fun anymore but if you walk too long alone, there may not be any time to change direction and you'll find yourself always waiting for the bus, or standing on corners waiting to cross the street.

Million Dollar Hotel

Between the two of us (more on her side I suspect than on mine) we decided to go to the Million Dollar Hotel. I believe there was a movie of the same name by Wenders. I think Mel Gibson stared in it. It was a beautiful idea and since we were adventuring in downtown LA, it seemed like a plan. After a day of visiting museums and exploring the city via camera and urban commentary, we arrived at the hotel. We decided to check into a room and my heart lept with excitement: this was new territory for me (and I'm sure Lily would say something similar). Our room was something of a timepiece, very 50's decor and the aura of stories waiting to be heard and visions waiting to be seen. Then Lily and I began our photographic journey: me with my Yashica-Mat and Royal 1940's typewriter, her with a brand new digital camera and her artistic sensibilities.

We traversed the hallways, stairways, people who stayed there indefinitely as well as the visitors touring through its many rooms. I let the experience settle in me, took notes along the way.

Then I discovered a way to the roof. My heart lept again. I almost couldn't contain myself. Lily on the other hand was afraid of heights. "Oh my god, I'm going to die!!" "Look. There's a ladder, see? We won't die... Just don't look down." Which we both did. The metal balcony we were on was small and you couldn't help but to look down. "It'll be alright. Let's just go." "oh my god, Efrem! I don't wanna fall!" "You won't fall. I won't let you!"

Once we made it up there, we ran and played and took pictures and I typed and we took more pictures until nightfall. Standing there on top of Downtown Los Angeles, under the neon lights with my very dear and best friend, was one of the most endearing experiences of my life. It was like discovering a new world neither of us had seen before.

I didn't want to leave.

Afterwards we went to the movies and saw "Million Dollar Hotel", ate at Johnnies Pastrami. A beautiful end to a beautiful day.